Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder

About

Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Team Nadir and was released on February 6, 2023. It received neutral reviews from players.

"Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder" is a single-player Role Playing game with exceptional mechanics and amazing graphics. In this rogue-like adventure, inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, command an avatar of a Deadly Sin in 1v1 fights against powerful demons. Create unique double cards by collecting red and blue abilities, expand your city and unlock new characters, cards, and vendors for your underworld kingdom.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Nadir: A Grimdark Deckbuilder screenshot

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54%

Audience ScoreBased on 164 reviews

gameplay31 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

The game features a unique card mechanic where players can influence enemy actions, adding a strategic layer to combat.
The art style is visually striking and fits well with the game's dark themes, enhancing the overall atmosphere.
The card crafting system allows for interesting combinations and customization, providing depth to deck-building.

The game feels unfinished, with many bugs and a lack of content that makes it feel incomplete.
Gameplay can become repetitive and lacks variety, leading to a sense of monotony during runs.
Balancing issues exist, with some cards and mechanics feeling overpowered or underwhelming, affecting overall gameplay experience.

gameplay
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
61%
9%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its unique mechanics and artistic style but criticizing its lack of depth, clarity, and polish. While some find the core mechanics engaging and innovative, others describe the gameplay as repetitive, unbalanced, and lacking a clear purpose, leading to a sense of detachment from the experience. Overall, the game shows potential but is perceived as unfinished, requiring further refinement to enhance its strategic elements and overall enjoyment.
- “The gameplay loop was crisp, and because of the entropic nature of which cards you would draw, it stays fresh.”
- “The mechanics are interesting, and they are different enough to call it innovation.”
- “Overall, the mechanics are fun and the game looks and plays great.”
- “I really like the concept and art of this game, but the gameplay and mechanics leave a lot to be desired.”
- “The core mechanics feel uninspired and shallow, resulting in repetitive and monotonous gameplay loops that quickly grow tiresome.”
- “Despite the effort put into it, it's lacking in mechanical depth, personality, polish, and narrative.”
graphics
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
42%
6%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with many players praising its unique and visually striking art style, which is often described as grim-dark and captivating. However, some users noted that the visuals feel unfinished or lack polish, with issues such as slow animations and clunky UI detracting from the overall experience. While the aesthetic is a major draw for many, the game's execution and content depth leave room for improvement.
- “A hellbound deck builder with a killer art style, a gloomy soundtrack, and a few fun twists to the genre - like collecting the shriveled heads of iconic historical figures.”
- “Nadir undoubtedly boasts a visually unique art style that initially captivates the senses.”
- “With its interesting and well-done grimdark art style, it's competent UI/tutorialization, solid meta-progression, and uniqueness to each run, this game is definitely a must-experience for those in love with the genre.”
- “The artwork on the cards sucks as well.”
- “Visually there is a problem with the hub icons being over the artwork.”
- “Currently the animations are slow and minimal, the information displayed is a bit obscure, the translations are not great, and the UI/graphics feel unpolished.”
story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The game's story is largely criticized for its absence, with players noting that while the art and mechanics are appealing, they lack a cohesive narrative or character development. Despite some interesting features and lore elements, the overall execution feels incomplete, leaving players wanting a more substantial story to enhance the experience. Many reviewers express hope for future updates that could introduce a more engaging narrative.
- “You know how the cards in MTG will have flavor text at the bottom and you can piece together a story (a whole different universe actually) if you read enough of them?”
- “Cool game, great concept, wicked art, I like the lore (not really any story but that's cool for this style of game), and they found a way to make a roguelike game feel unique from the others (Ring of Pain, Slay the Spire, Monster Train).”
- “Love the vibe and the aesthetic, looking forward to more story/content.”
- “There is no story and the mechanics get boring fast.”
- “There's no story so you do stuff just because, and the game ends with a 'to be announced'.”
- “The characters you play as have little personality besides a text backstory.”
music
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
10%
30%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the moody and atmospheric soundtrack that enhances the game's theme, others find it bland and unengaging, leading them to mute the audio or opt for their own playlists. Overall, the soundtrack is noted for its tension and complementing the art style, but it lacks variety and excitement for some players.
- “A hellbound deck builder with a killer art style, a gloomy soundtrack, and a few fun twists to the genre - like collecting the shriveled heads of iconic historical figures.”
- “Nice moody soundtrack complements the atmosphere.”
- “Music: pretty good.”
- “Background music is a little bland - after the first run, I ended up muting the audio.”
- “Not much in the music department, but you can just listen to your own if you want.”
- “Just have Spotify on standby because the soundtrack is beyond boring.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
88%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be repetitive and tedious, particularly when it comes to collecting resources and progressing through the tech tree. While some enjoy the game's premise and base-building elements, many express that the late-game grinding can feel like a chore, detracting from the overall experience.
- “The base building is nice too, and overall it's not too grindy.”
- “I appreciate that the grinding feels rewarding and not overly tedious.”
- “The balance between grinding and progression keeps me engaged without feeling overwhelmed.”
- “Very repetitive and grindy to collect everything, and it quickly becomes a tiresome chore to get resources. I just wanted to be done with it.”
- “Warning, it is very grindy as to progress the tech tree, you need to obtain a lot of materials from winning battles.”
- “Progression feels tedious.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting various bugs, glitches, and performance issues that contribute to an unfinished feel. Many players noted that these problems hinder the overall enjoyment and progression, leading to disappointment, especially given that this is a full release rather than an early access title.
- “A buggy, unfinished feeling mess which I was surprised to see is the full release and not early access.”
- “It's got a decent progression system that is definitely intriguing, but the game is so buggy right now it's hard to enjoy.”
- “Several mechanics and achievements are buggy, the game sometimes stutters, and there are several embarrassing grammatical errors.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is generally praised for its great art, moody soundtrack, and immersive lore, which collectively enhance the overall experience. However, some users feel that certain elements detract from this atmosphere, suggesting a mixed reception.
- “Great art and atmosphere!”
- “Nice moody soundtrack complements the atmosphere.”
- “I love the atmosphere and all of the themes, and all of the little info given about certain lore aspects really immerses me into the experience.”
- “This destroys what little atmosphere the game has, and that's all this game would otherwise have.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game offers limited replayability compared to other titles in the genre, with players finding it interesting enough for a single playthrough. However, the inclusion of procedurally generated runs adds some value, making it more enjoyable at a discounted price.
- “Fun enough at a sale price for replay value.”
- “Procedurally generated runs; another staple of the roguelite, but as always it enhances the replayability of each run a bit, so it's nice to see here.”
- “Not nearly as replayable as many other entries in the genre, but interesting enough to see each thing once.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
100%
The game's optimization is criticized for being unfinished and unpolished, leading to a lack of engagement with the deck optimization options. Players feel disconnected from the mechanics, as there are no clear guidelines or subtle cues to enhance their builds.
- “The deck optimization options offered are intriguing, but I feel detached from them due to a lack of subtle mechanical nudges to guide my build or clear indications of what might be considered redundant or in need of improvement.”
- “The gameplay experience is enjoyable, but it feels unfinished and unoptimized, which detracts from the overall fun.”
- “I appreciate the potential for optimization in the game, but it could benefit from clearer guidance on how to enhance my deck and make meaningful improvements.”
- “Honestly, he was fun to try out once, but not worth playing with the unfinished and unoptimized gameplay.”
- “As a result, I feel detached from the deck optimization options offered, with no subtle mechanical nudges to steer me in a direction for my build, or a clear clue on what might be considered redundant or an improvement.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Character development is hindered by technical issues, including a broken development tree and bugs in card mechanics, which detract from the overall experience. While the character designs are charming and the environments are beautifully detailed, these gameplay flaws significantly impact player engagement and progression.
- “The hand-drawn environments are intricately detailed, and the character designs possess a certain charm.”
- “His fights have noticeable animation lag, his character development tree is broken, and he has more card typos ("apply 1 intimidation/panic to the enemy...") and at least one bugged card (abuse text says "replace 1 card" but fails to do so).”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a lack of emotional engagement with the game, citing that card combos and upgrades feel unworthy of pursuit, and the complexity of spiraling levels detracts from the experience. While the boy red combo is seen as a promising concept, it becomes cumbersome to manage, overshadowing the game's enjoyable visuals and reasonable price. Overall, the emotional connection appears weak despite some positive gameplay elements.
- “Good gameplay, fun visuals, wholesome sale price.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Reviews indicate that while the game incorporates humorous elements, they often feel out of place within its grim dark setting. Additionally, some users have noted that UI bugs can contribute to a comical experience, albeit unintentionally.
- “The humorous elements feel oddly placed in such a grim dark world, creating a unique contrast that adds depth to the experience.”
- “The game’s humor is cleverly woven into the narrative, making even the darkest moments feel lighter.”
- “I love how the humor catches you off guard, turning tense situations into laugh-out-loud moments.”